Clunking, anybody help?

[padrickz88]

OK well, the other night i was thrashing around (as you do), and well my car just randomly started running like ****.....
Started making a clunky noise that wasn't that bad at the beginning, and got worse.....
Long story short i thought it might have been a rocker bolt that snapped because thats what happened last time the car felt like this so i ripped off the rocker covers and guess what? ALL tight and nothing wrong...
1st thing i checked last night was to make sure there was no piston trying to see daylight...... none, so that was a relief....

So does anybody know what i should look for? i'm going to do a compression test tomorrow, and i guess that could always help me troubleshoot whats wrong....

Not very common of the buicks to die but i thought i would just ask to see what people say so i have an idea *looks at the regular's* (even though i'm not giving much info here)

[Matt_vp]

will need a bit more info like where the noise is coming from and how the car is running like crap. eg backfiring under full load or it won't even idle. What kind of condition is your harmonic balancer in?, Is the car getting warmer than usual? Maybe get a screw driver and use it like a stepiscope to help find the area the noise is coming from, u can but proper stepiscope type things with a long rod on the end from most auto stores.
Matt

[DavoVP]

Harmonic balancer, they clunk !

[centy]

big time mate.
underload a little less but at idle you will probably **** yourself, i did.

[wildss]

hopefully you havent spun a bearing

[padrickz88]

yeah i dont know what it is but im REALLY hoping its not a bearing.....

sounds like its coming from the top end but i haven't got around to doing a compression test, was a bit busy today

[DavoVP]

man inspect your balancer, if the rubber is cracked split or perished, its gone. i did mine today, I ended up ripping a chunk out of the rubber and basicly seperating it fromt he metal ring, it was free spinning :S

[wildss]

hmm had a bit of a think about this last night again and if its not the balancer or a bearing it might be a fuct cam lobe, hopefully its just the balancer for your sake.
if you do need another motor theres a whole vn for sale for 300 in the f.s section, we can go halves in it hehe
i want the diff and interior trims and some various other bits

[padrickz88]

well update..... didnt get to do a compression test, but we decided to take the rocker covers off and start it to see if any oil is getting to the top end, not one drop.....

but it started ****ing out from in between the oil filter and the block...


so does that mean my oil pickup is blocked which possibly could have caused me to do a cam bearing? maybe?
think im just going to buy a new engine, stuff it lol

[centy]

if it is leaking aronund the filter and the oil light is going off then you are pumping oil and picking up ok but it is not getting through.
I would replace the filter and try it again to see if it pumps oil all the way.
failing that you can TRY a flush but expect to replace the engine.

[jas98]

yeh sounds bad but just check the filter as said....could be blocked ...also maybe the oil pressure relive valve spring is stuck/broken?? either way as said expect a new engine

[padrickz88]

the oil filter is pretty newish actually so it should be fine.... think im going to go to a vr engine to be honest....